


Spooky High Is Slowly Burning Down

by LightRedFox



Category: Monster Prom (Visual Novel)
Genre: Multi, but I want to have fun and build some character, god I know putting your own ocs in your own fic is tacky
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-03-09 03:22:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18908512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LightRedFox/pseuds/LightRedFox
Summary: And, surprisingly, it isn’t Damien’s fault.Yet another story following the misadventures of the residents of Spooky High in the weeks leading up to the Monster Prom. Sorta slow burn.





	1. Lunchtime Part 1

When Brian went to the cafeteria during lunch break, he didn’t go straight to the lunch line like every other day. Instead, he sat down with his group of best friends, who had already retrieved and were currently eating their lunch.

“Brian, what took you so long?” Vicky said with her mouth full of the cafeteria’s “turkish delight”.

“Mr. Slenderman made us stay overtime to chew us out for not citing references correctly.” Brian mumbled lazily, his head leaning into his propped up arm.

“Really? I didn’t think he was that strict with them.” Oz brought up, spoon feeding the small fear on his shoulder. “I accidentally used the wrong format for my last essay and I still got full marks.”

“Apparently we all had the same idea and used Wikipedia. He was not happy about it.”

“Ouch. That’s rough buddy.” Amira said while playing with her still uneaten food. “You shouldn’t have been lazy with your homework.” Brian simply shrugged in response.

“It’s fine, I’ve got more important things to focus on.”

“Oh, that reminds me! We’re doing progress reports today!” Vicky exclaimed with an excited look on her face as the rest of her friends groaned in response. Vicky pulled out a notepad and a pen from the backpack next to her and flipped it open.

The four monsters had been close friends for almost the entirety of high school. How they all met was another story altogether, but what mattered the most was that they were always there for each other, even in matters like finding a date to prom. Even if some of them didn’t want to find love, or get others involved in their lovelife.

“So Brian, since you were the last one here, it’s only fair that you go first!”

“Eh, sure.” The zombie mumbled as the frankenstein began her questioning.

“Has someone caught your eye?”

“No.”

“Has anyone made any moves on you? Besides that interdimensional creep.”

“Not that I know of.”

“....Have you spent any alone time with any of our classmates besides us three?”

“Nope.”

“Brian, c’mon! Work with me here!” Vicky gave a frustrated sigh as the zombie gave another shrug.

“Um, how about you Vicky?” Oz awkwardly piped up in an attempt to stop her from grilling the poor zombie. “Any progress with Liam?”

“Oh, is it my turn?” Vicky abandoned her line of thought regarding Brian’s lovelife (much to his expressionless relief) and flipped to another page on her notepad.

“Liam asked me out on a ‘not date’ last weekend, and he seemed really happy to take pictures of the food at the fancy restaurant we ate at! Well, technically only I ate, but I’d still consider the date as a success!” Vicky smiled fondly, reminiscing on her ‘definitely not a date’ with the vampire.

Brian shifted his head enough to the side to eye the page that Vicky had stopped on, which instead of being filled with date notes or lovelife tips was filled with somewhat explicit depictions of the vampire. Sometimes he forgot that despite her cuteness, Vicky was still a horny teenager just like everyone else.

“Ah great, now our progress is gonna sound like grade school crushes compared to yours.” Amira groaned, bringing Vicky back to the present.

“Oh come on, A! I’m sure you’ll figure out who you wanna take to prom anytime now!”

“That’s what you said yesterday. And the day before.” The djinn signed in defeat. “At this point I think I’d be better off going alone and supporting you guys on the sides.”

“Y-You can’t give up! We’re in this together!” Oz exclaimed, the tiny fear next to him nodding in agreement. “I’m sure somebody is dying to go to prom with you, you just need to figure out who!”

“Well, if you really want a list of who it couldn’t be,” Amira started counting with her fingers. “I accidentally burned one of Cal’s succulents a few days ago and he still won’t talk to me, offended Miri by telling her I love eating seafood, and pissed Damien off by headshotting him during PE.”

“Huh, so that’s why he was setting passerbys on fire in the hallway a few days ago.”

“You say that as if he doesn’t regularly set people on fire.” Brian commented, rubbing his skinless right shoulder on instinct. Burning flesh was not a smell he wanted to get used to, especially if it was his own undead flesh.

“Well that asshole had it coming.” Amira flared up a bit before returning to the topic. “Anyway, don’t worry about poor old Amira, honey. I’m a lost cause. Besides, isn’t it time Oz told us about a certain poltergeist?” She smirked at the now very red in the face Oz.

“I-I, um, erm-” He was sweating nervously, tugging at his shirt collar and staring at the ceiling like it was the most interesting thing in the room. The smaller fears on his shoulder must’ve thought otherwise, as they made several gestures towards his friends to start a small game of charades. One of them made a heart shape with it’s tiny arms while the other mimicked shooting an arrow through it, making the other one dramatically fall onto the ground. Vicky giggled at the small show while Amira and Brian snickered at the even redder Oz.

“Ahem.” A raspy voice coughed politely, saving Oz from further embarrassment. The four monsters turned in the direction of the sound, where they saw Liam floating a few meters above the ground. He landed promptly on the ground, next to a now grinning Vicky.

“Terribly sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I require Victoria’s presence at another lunch table.” He looked at Vicky and gave a small smile, causing her to giggle a bit more.

“I’ve acquired some extremely rare delicacies from Japan, and need a reasonable taste tester to consume them after I have taken Instagram worthy photos of them.”

“Liammmmmm,” Scott’s voice whined from a bit further away. “are you sure there aren’t any Scott Snacks here?”

“As you can see, Scott isn’t exactly capable of understanding the complexity and worth of these delicacies. I’m sure you understand why I need Victoria’s aid.”

Vicky looked at her friends with uncertainty. As much as she’d love to join Liam in any activity, her friends meant a lot to her. She couldn’t just ditch them at a moment’s notice.

The three of them looked at each other, seemingly communicating only through their eyes, and then turned to look at the frankenstein.

“Go ahead, girl.” Amira said, with the two guys nodding in agreement. Vicky beamed with happiness.

“You guys are the best! I’ll catch up with you later!” She ditched her unfinished food tray from the cafeteria and grabbed her bag, practically skipping towards Liam and Scott’s lunch table. Liam was about to follow suit, but he paused for a moment, then turned to face Oz.

“Ozmond, a word of advice. If you’re looking for a serious relationship, Polina is not the way to go.”

With those parting words, the vampire left the trio and joined his “not girlfriend” and Scott, the latter happily devouring a pack of Scott Snacks Vicky magically had.

“Ugh, who does that jerk think he is?” Amira growled, the flames on her head flickering brighter.

“I don’t know, but maybe he has a point.” Oz sighed sadly, looking absolutely crushed.

“Don’t listen to him Oz, Polly totally likes you back.”

“But what if she’s not looking to be in a serious relationship, like Liam said?”

That question was left unanswered. Not because Amira didn’t have an answer, but because Brian’s stomach grumbled loudly at the very moment she was about to.

“More importantly, aren’t you going to eat anything?” Oz quickly switched the subject, clearly not wanting to continue the current topic. Amira opened her mouth in protest, but decided against it and closed it, silently staring at her uneaten food.

“Probably not today. It’s way too late to get food now, and there’s still a line-” The zombie paused before sniffing the air. “You guys smell that?”

“Smell what?” Oz and Amira looked around the cafeteria as Brian eyed a figure in the shadows quietly slip into one of the private meeting rooms for the teachers.

He left the table uncharacteristically quickly, leaving the two remaining monsters confused.

“What was that all about?”

“Beats me.”


	2. Lunchtime Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, sorry this ended up coming out in July. June was way too hectic for me and this fic wasn’t at the forefront of my priorities.

Brian walked into one of the private lunch areas slightly faster than his usual stumbled walk. These areas were normally reserved for the teachers, but since the coffee machines were all in the faculty room, most of them didn’t bother using the rooms for their lunch breaks. Which meant that any student could waltz in and eat in comfortable silence away from the main dining hall.

As it so happened, one such student was doing so at that moment. A pale blue-skinned figure stared at his new companion with his black eyes and white pupils, a corpse still in the process of being dismembered laying on the table in front of him.

‘A ghoul.’ Brian thought. ‘Undead, just like me.’

“What do you want?” His voice was a bit muffled due to the black mask covering his mouth, but Brian could hear how annoyed he was. He lowered the cleaver he held in his right hand, but didn’t take his eyes off of the trespasser.

“Think you can spare a brain? I’m starving.” Brian had to cover the exposed part of his mouth to prevent drool from escaping. It was weird, he was normally indifferent to trivial matters like eating and such, but the scent of blood in the air made him feel...alive. It brought back faint memories from years ago. He could barely remember them, but how he felt at the time lingered, and he desperately wanted to hold on to that feeling for as long as he could.

The ghoul ran a clawed hand through his short, black hair, the bangs falling back over his forehead. “If that’s the reason you’re bothering me, go ahead and take it. Not fond of that part anyway.” He tossed the head of the corpse towards the zombie, who caught it with little effort. It wasn’t until Brian looked at the face of the poor deceased fool when something clicked in his mind.

“Wait a minute, this is a human head.” The realization dawned on his face as it changed to show a slightly surprised expression. This was certainly unexpected. 

“Yeah, so what?” 

“Nothing, it’s just...aren’t these ridiculously expensive?”

“You think I bought this entire thing at some Costco?” He gave a dry chuckle. “Nah, this is freshly hunted stuff right here, straight from the natural habitat.”

“The human’s side?” This was starting to feel a bit illegal. Then again, when has that ever stopped anyone at this school? “I thought only licensed hunters could cross over.”

“People with licenses are recommended to be the only ones to cross over. There’s no law suggesting you can’t go cross the borders yourself.” He ran another hand through his hair. “Wouldn’t recommend it though. It’s a pain in the ass to travel back and forth if you don’t know what you’re doing.”

Brian continued to stare at his future meal with a slightly tilted head. Something about this seemed...familiar. It wasn’t a face he recognized, and it wasn’t like he didn’t know what humans looked like. Was it not the person that was familiar, but the current situation? No, that couldn’t be right. He had only eaten human flesh once before, and even then he couldn’t remember even the major details.

Yet somehow, this disembodied head of some dude he had never met before seemed to cause a mixture of emotions to come over him. Was he happy that he was finally going to eat, confused on how this meat was even acquired or even….disgust? Why was he feeling this way all of a sudden?

“Uh, hate to interrupt whatever daydream you were having about that head, but can you leave now?” The ghoul stared at Brian as he shook his head to clear his thoughts.

“Um, yeah. Yeah, I guess.”

Well, whatever. He got what he wanted, didn’t he? No need to have an existential crisis over a disembodied head. He moved said head under his left arm and waved at the ghoul still staring at him warily.

“Thanks for the meal. Have a good one.” 

Brian swore he heard a muffled reply, but couldn’t hear anything clear enough to be sure. He turned around and was about to exit, planning to finally eat his meal in the company of the friends he left so abruptly, when a manicured green palm stopped him.

“Not so fast.” An ice cold voice spoke from in front of the zombie.

Brian recognized the voice immediately, and a part of his mind groaned in response. Vera Oberlin shoved the zombie aside and invited herself into the room, sneering at the two undead monsters.

“Ugh, amateurs. Don’t you two know anything about business?” She looked at the ghoul, whos expression went from mildly annoyed to wary and attentive. His irises turned to slits as he stared at the gorgon, the snakes of her hair hissing back at him.

“I can’t believe you’d just give away such a valuable thing. Don’t you know how much human parts fetch on the market?” She snatched the head from Brian’s arm (with ignored protest) and looked at it with a gleam in her eyes.

“You were eavesdropping on us?” Brian sure wasn’t surprised that Vera would be listening in on people’s conversations, but he sure didn’t expect her to be spying on him of all people.

“I prefer to call it ‘active studying’ for Black Marketing 101. And it looks like it paid off, I found a great deal just waiting to be made, with a guy who doesn’t even know the market no less!”

“For the record, I have Black Marketing 101 with Mr. Al Pacino too. And what’s wrong with giving a starving guy something to eat?”

“Oh, charming.” She rolled her eyes. “Another one of those Robin Hood type of people, are you?”

“Not exactly. Just felt in a giving mood. I’m sure you don’t understand.”

The tension in the air grew thick as they stared each other down, Brian observing the interaction from the entrance. Knowing Vera, this could get nasty at any second, and seeing the grip the ghoul had on the cleaver gave him an uneasy feeling. Common sense would say to leave before becoming the witness to a murder, but the stomach says it wants lunch. And unfortunately Brian’s lunch was still being held by a pissed off gorgon.

“If you don’t have anything better to say to me, why don’t you leave me alone already?”

“Oh, no, I still have some business with you.” The gorgon walked up to where the ghoul was sitting, and eyed the body on the table. “What if I give you $5,000 upfront for whatever’s left of this guy? Quite a steal, wouldn’t you say?”

“For you? Definitely. Tempting offer, but this is my lunch for the next week or so.” He waved her off dismissively. “Now go and find some other guy to scam.” 

Vera narrowed her eyes, her fingernails digging into the skin of the head she was still holding.

“Fine then. We’ll leave you alone. But know this, I do not like you.”

The ghoul shrugged. “I feel indifferent about you.”

“Ugh!” With a final glare in the ghoul’s direction, Vera grabbed Brian’s arm and exited the room, dragging the confused zombie out of it as well.

“Who does that little ingrate think he is? Nobody talks back to me. NO ONE.” 

The cafeteria was mostly empty by now, but the few monsters who were still there turned their heads at the sound of Vera’s voice. The moment they saw who was angry, they quickly made their exit or slinked underneath their tables.

“Not only did he refuse my offer, he ruined my manicure! I’m going to have to skip 5th period just to go to the salon!”

“Erm, that’s too bad.” Brian glanced down at the head the gorgon was still holding. He slowly reached out to get it. “I guess you better go do that while I eat my lunch-”

“Excuse me?” She finally turned to acknowledge the existence of her companion, who quickly moved back to his original position.

“Well, I don’t see a reason why I’d be involved in any of your fights-”

“You were a witness to disrespectful behavior towards an Oberlin! If you think you can just stand idly by and let that happen, you’re dead wrong!”

Vera grabbed his jacket and pulled him down so that their eyes were on the same level. As undead eyes met very angry ones, Brian felt his lower half go stiff. Either Vera’s petrifying gaze was beginning to turn him to stone, or he was really turned on right now.

“Listen here, Mr. Yu. You’re helping me get back at that guy whether you like it or not. Am I understood?”

“...Yeah.”

“Glad to see we’re finally on the same page.” She let go of her grip on the zombie’s jacket, and he straightened his back with a loud crack. “Now, give me his name and I can start to come up with my revenge plan.”

Brian opened his mouth to reply before realizing he actually had no idea who the stranger was.

“I...don’t know.”

“What?! How do you get a human head from someone and not know their name?”

“It never came up.” Brian said defensively. “You were the one spying on us, shouldn’t you know this type of stuff?”

“Ugh, I’ve never seen him before, he has to be new.” Vera got out her phone and started quickly tapping something into it. “If he is, then that means I can’t check my profiles for the people in this school.”

Brian shrugged. “There are tons of people in this school, maybe you just missed him.”

“I don’t miss anyone. The fact of the matter is, I don’t have any dirt on him. How am I supposed to threaten and blackmail someone I don’t know anything about?” She let out a frustrated sigh, gripping her phone in anger.

“It’ll take a while to get any information when all we have to go with is his face. I’ll have my informants in the school trail him for now, which includes you.” She scowled at the zombie. 

“I want you to get information about him. Not just his name; his routine, his address, his favorite food-EVERYTHING. He’ll regret crossing Vera Oberlin. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to book a salon appointment.” She shoved the head into the zombie’s hands before stomping off out of the cafeteria, furiously tapping at her phone.

Brian let out a huge sigh before heading back to the lunchtable where his friends were still waiting. Amira raised an eyebrow at the zombie as a slightly shaken Oz climbed back up onto his seat.

“Hey Brian, we saw little miss hissy throwing a fit. What did we miss?”

“Long story short, guy that gave me this head pissed off Vera, and I guess I work for her now.”

Amira let out a small laugh at her friend’s situation.

“Oh my god, are you serious? Brian what exactly did you get yourself into?”

“I have no idea.”


End file.
